In dispensing a solid in aerosol form it is common to use what is known as a suspension aerosol. This involves the use of a liquid propellant in which a solid to be dispensed is suspended. There is inevitably some difference, however slight, between the respective specific gravities of the propellant and the solid to be dispensed, which means that, with the passage of time and in the absence of other overriding interactions, the two components tend to separate in the container, with a lighter component going to the top or a heavier component going to the bottom over time.
In some pharmaceutical aerosols the particles of medicament are more dense than the propellant and hence the particles tend to sediment out to the bottom of the container. This phenomenon may be accentuated by the additional structuring of the medicament presentation necessary to enhance its physical stability, for example by controlled flocculation thereof. Controlled flocculation of the suspension may increase the effective particle size in dispersion from less than 10 xcexcm to greater than 100 xcexcm . A squared dependency on particle radius will directly increase the sedimentation rate in such circumstances.
Users of suspension aerosols are always instructed before use to shake the container well. However, even a short interval between the conclusion of the shaking and the act of dispensing a charge from the aerosol is sufficient to allow some sedimentation to occur. This represents a particular problem where the suspended material is a medicament, since it can result in the patient receiving a dose which, although of the correct volume, contains either too little or too much of the medicament.
This problem has been found to be particularly acute in the development of CFC-free aerosol formulations using propellant 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, also known as HFA134a, which is less dense than conventional CFC containing propellants. With some aerosol drug formulations using this propellant, when the container is orientated with the valve at the bottom, the drug particles rapidly sediment onto and around the valve, and with vibration caused by, for example, transportation, find their way into the valve body. The trapped drug is then not fully dispensed, even on shaking due to the confinement of the valve body, and on discharge of valve actuation the trapped drug enters the metering chamber which leads to a high drug content in the dose delivered by the following actuation. This problem is especially pronounced where the drug is fluticasone propionate.
UK Patent No. 2195986 describes an aerosol valve wherein the pick-up point, i.e. the point at which liquid passes from the interior of the container into the sampling chamber of the valve, is at a location which, when the container is orientated with the valve at the bottom, is spaced an appreciable vertical distance from the nearest substantially horizontal surface. Whilst this valve ensures that the liquid entering the metering chamber following a dispensing operation comes from above the nearest region where sedimented drug particles might gather, any sedimenting drug particles that might be drawn into the sampling chamber together with any drug particles that sediment out of the suspension within the sampling chamber tend to be trapped and are not dispensed on shaking. Furthermore, by deliberately placing the pick-up point appreciably higher than the lowest point in the container, a significant quantity of the contents of the container cannot be dispensed, which results in considerable wastage.
It is an object to provide a valve which alleviates these problems.
According to the present invention there is provided a valve for an aerosol container for dispensing a suspension of a substance in a liquid propellant contained herein, the valve comprising a valve body having at least one orifice to allow a quantity of the suspension to pass from the container into the valve, characterised in that the valve further comprises a ring disposed around the valve body, the ring being positioned below the at least one orifice to reduce the volume of suspension that can be accommodated within the container below the at least one orifice when the container is orientated with the valve at the bottom, the ring having at least one portion of reduced axial thickness to provide a trough around the valve body below the at least one orifice.
By providing a ring below the at least one orifice to reduce the volume of suspension that can be accommodated within the container below the orifice(s) when the container is orientated with the valve at the bottom, it ensures that most of the contents of the container may be dispensed to reduce wastage, while the trough around the valve body below the orifice(s) provided by the at least one portion of reduced axial thickness serves to accommodate any drug particle sediment so ensuring that the suspension entering the sampling chamber comes from above the region where any sedimented drug particles might gather.
Preferably, the valve is a metering valve comprising a metering chamber, a sampling chamber, a transfer passage through which a quantity of suspension can pass from the sampling chamber to the metering chamber, and a valve stem having a dispensing passage through which a dose of suspension can be dispensed from the metering chamber, the valve stem being slideably moveable within the valve body such that in a first position the dispensing passage is isolated from the metering chamber and the metering chamber is in communication with the sampling chamber via the transfer passage, and in a second position the dispensing passage is in communication with the metering chamber and the transfer passage is isolated from the metering chamber the valve body having a plurality of orifices to allow a quantity of the suspension to pass from the container into the sampling chamber.
By providing a valve body having a plurality of orifices to allow the suspension to pass from the container into the sampling chamber, the suspension may flow freely through the sampling chamber so allowing the suspension contained within the sampling chamber and the container to mix when the container is shaken and so disperse any drug particle sediment within the sampling chamber.
Suitably the orifices are slots extending in a substantially axial direction. Preferably the slots extend substantially the entire axial length of the sampling chamber.
By providing slots the length of the sampling chamber the suspension may flow freely through the entire sampling chamber, so allowing maximum dispersion of drug particle sediment within the sampling chamber.
Preferably there are more than two slots.
Suitably the ring further comprises a seat to locate a gasket between the container and valve for sealing the container.
By providing a seat on the ring to locate the gasket, the gasket is reduced in size, and the area of gasket exposed to the contents of the container is also reduced.
Suitably the ring further comprises a plurality of vanes separated by slots at its periphery and extending substantially upwardly when the container is orientated with the valve at the bottom.
By providing vanes separated by slots at the periphery of the ring the suspension is made to flow around the vanes and through the slots when the container is shaken, and the resulting swirling motion of the suspension helps to disperse any drug particle sediment on and around the ring.
Suitably the substance to be dispersed is a medicament suspended in liquefied HFA134a. Preferably the medicament is fluticasone propionate.